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4.0étoiles sur 5
Dark, ironic, realist police procedural, Janv. 22 2002
A friend mentioned Bill James' Harpur and Iles books -- English police procedurals described as the "Dance to the Music of Time of mysteries" -- to me. What an irresistible recommendation (see my reviews of the Anthony Powell books for why)! I decided to give them a try.Thus I have just read _The Lolita Man_, which is number two in the series. The plot concerns a serial rapist and killer who preys on schoolgirls in the town where Harpur and Iles work. Iles is the Assistant Chief, while Harpur is one of his top subordinated, a detective superintendent or something. Iles is a rather nasty man, consumed with careerist passion and a bitter rivalry with the neighboring county police department, this last rivalry enhanced because their Chief is ready to retire and he is concerned that the Assistant Chief from the county will get the job ahead of him. Moreover, Iles is a Mason, and the top men at the county are Roman Catholics, so Iles' speech is larded with mean remarks about "Papists" and "Micks", not to mention cynical remarks about avoiding the appearance of racism etc etc. That said, he seems to be a very well-read man (allowing him to drop in a cute Anthony Powell reference, calling Harpur one of the "Afternoon Men" -- that being the title of Powell's first novel). Harpur is the main point of view character, and much more sympathetic. He is carrying on an affair with the widow of one of his subordinates, a man who died botching a case -- but he seems decent, and it's made clear that his wife is cheating on him as well, and he treats his lover nicely. As a cop, he appears honest and hardworking, and much put upon by Iles, not least because he won't join the Masonic Lodge. The main action of the book pivots around Harpur's conviction that the "Lolita Man"'s next target might be a friend of his daughters. The reader is given a look at the Lolita Man's thoughts, and at this girl's diary, so we know from the start that Harpur is right, though he has no good specific reason for his worry. Then she is kidnapped, and while Iles grandstands and withholds information from his county fellows (who, to be fair to him, have done the same in reverse), Harpur does some solo work, and grudgingly cooperates on the sly with his opposite number at the county. The resolution is well worked out, ironic in tone, fitting the book nicely. A solid story, with interesting if not exactly heroic characters. I'll be searching out the rest of these.
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